The first time I visited Maryland, it was a side-trip during a visit to Washington, D.C.

I suppose it is the same for a lot of people, but Maryland deserves to be a lot more than a side trip. Maryland was one of the original thirteen colonies that later became the first United States – it deserves its own place in history and people in the know, know a few things about Maryland.

Once upon a time the Port of Baltimore was one of the most important ports in the global spice trade. McCormick Spices built warehouses along the port in the late 1800s, and well into the 1980s visitors to the Baltimore seaport could smell pepper, vanilla, or other spices wafting through the sea air.

Today, the spice warehouses are gone, but the seaport is still thriving and home to the National Aquarium and dozens of shops and restaurants. The rest of this tiny state is still as inviting as a phantom whiff of vanilla on a warm summer day.

​Test your knowledge of this small, but fascinating state with this fun trivia game.

The southernmost of America’s original thirteen colonies, Georgia became a state in 1788. The colony was founded by James Oglethorpe, a British soldier and philanthropist.

Oglethorpe founded Georgia as a refuge for people locked up in debtors’ prisons in England. He hoped to give people a fresh start in the New World.

Today, Georgia has a racially and ethnically diverse population that continues to grow, year after year, as more people discover the beauty of the state’s rivers and mountains and the excitement of its cities.

If you’re a Georgia native or just a Georgia fan, test your knowledge of the Peach State with this fun quiz.

Have you ever driven north to south, along the east coast on Interstate 95? Then you know that 179 miles of that journey takes you through Virginia.

Any trip to or even through Virginia is a trip through history and contrasts. Virginia’s nickname is the “Old Dominion,” which herald backs to the colonial era when it was the first British colony in America.

Virginia’s also the “Mother of Presidents,” eight of them, to be precise, including George Washington, Woodrow Wilson, and six in between, and the place where the Civil War finally ended. The world’s largest office building, the Pentagon, is here, but the state’s largest city is beach town, Virginia Beach, where the mood is considerably less formal.

Here is for you a printable trivia game about South Dakota. Did you know it is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a significant portion of the population and historically dominated the entire territory?